It's a combination of several things, DK.
- Build quality is a big factor.
- More bang for the buck is another.
- It doesn't bother me at all to bypass the "out the door depreciation" of a new motor home.
A new 2008, 42' Fleetwood Revolution was arguably a 3-4 hundred thousand dollar motor home. As such, it is appointed well, has a diesel engine, an honest set of house batteries, inverter, tile floors, washer/dryer, etc., etc. and can be purchased for about $105K with less than 40,000 miles.
A 2020, 37' Thor Challenger 37TB, albeit an extremely nice motor home, is a V10, vinyl floor, very basic house batteries, inverter? And is priced at around $148K.
I'd rather save the 40K and have a bigger, better built coach than I would to have a newer, smaller coach with less appointments. I've posted a few pictures of the 2008 Revolution and the 2020 Challenger for comparison.
The first 5 are of the 2020 Thor Challenger, the last 5 are of the 2008 Revolution. You don't have to look to hard to see the difference in build quality between the two.